Important Questions: The Last Lesson | English Class 12 PDF Download

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: What had the narrator counted on to enter the school, unnoticed?
Ans: The narrator (Franz) had counted on the hustle and bustle that was usual when the school began in order to enter there unnoticed. He had thought he could depend on the commotion to get to his desk without anybody noticing that he was late for the class.

Q2: “What a thunder clap these words were to me!” Which were the words that shocked and surprised little Franz?
Ans: When M.Hamel mounted on the chair and announced that he was there to teach his last French lesson that day, Franz was shocked and surprised. He felt very guilty for deliberately ignoring to learn his native language and he suddenly developed a strange fascination for his language and his school.

Q3: What was tempting Franz to keep away from school That morning’?
Ans: Franz was very late for school ‘that morning’. M. Hamel was to question the students on participles and Franz knew nothing and feared a scolding. The bright weather, woods, fields and chirping of birds tempted him to spend the day outdoors.

Q4: Why had the bulletin-board become a centre of attention during the last two years?
Ans: The bulletin-board had become a centre of attention because for the last two years all the bad news had come from there. It was the source of all bad news-the lost battles, the draft and the orders of the commanding officers.

Q5: What had been put up on the bulletin board?
Ans: A notice had been put up on the bulletin board informing the people about the order from Berlin which declared that only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. They had also been informed that the new German teacher was coming on the following day.

Q6: Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What does this tell us about the attitude of the Frenchmen?
Ans: During his last French class Franz hears the pigeons cooing and wonders if the Prussians would make them sing in German too. His thought reveals the Frenchmen’s fear of complete domination by the Germans whereby they would try to enslave even their minds.

Q7: “What announcement did M. Hamel make? What was the impact of this on Franz?
Ans: When M.Hamel declared that it was their last French lesson a grim realisation dawned on Franz that he had so much more yet to learn. He felt sorry for whiling away his time and skipping his lessons. Now he did not want to part with his books, which he had earlier consi¬dered a nuisance. He was also deeply pained at the thought that M.Hamel was leaving.

Q8: What was the mood in the classroom when M.Hamel gave his last French lesson?
Ans: When M.Hamel was giving his last French; lesson, the mood in the classroom was solemn and sombre. When he announced that this was their last French lesson everyone present in the classroom suddenly developed patriotic feelings for their native language and genuinely regretted ignoring their mother tongue.

Q9: How did M.Hamel say farewell to his students and the people of the town?
Ans: To bid farewell to his students and the people of the town M.Hamel wore his formal suit on the day he gave his last French lesson. He assumed the role of a mentor and advised the villagers to safeguard their language, which was the most beautiful and logical language in the world. Being rimmed up with emotions, he wrote “Vive La France” which mean Tong live France’ in order to inculcate a feeling of patriotism within everyone.

Q10: What change was there in Franz’ attitude towards M. Hamel?
Ans: Franz’s attitude towards M. Hamel underwent a complete change on the day of the last French lesson. He developed a strange fascination for his school and the French language. When M. Hamel read out a grammar lesson to the class, Franz was amazed at how well he understood it. All M. Hamel said seemed so easy to Franz and he genuinely regretted ignoring M. Hamel’s classes and lessons.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q11: How different from usual was the atmosphere at school on the day of the last lesson?
Ans: Acquiring power over the Alsatians made the Prussians so dominating that they even imposed their language on them. This way the Prussians intended to dominate the hearts and minds of the Alsacians and wanted them to even think in their language and thereby lose their complete identity. An order had been received from Berlin that only German would be taught in schools of Alsace and Lorraine. So there was something unusual about the school on the last day of the French lesson. The usual hustle and bustle was missing. Everything was ‘strange and solemn’ as on a Sunday morning. The village elders were seated on the back desks.
M.Hamel, who had been teaching French at the school for the last forty years, was wearing his formal suit in honour of the last French lesson. While delivering the last lesson, he called upon his students and the village elders to guard the French language among themselves and never forget it, declaring French to be the most beautiful language in the world. Franz developed a sudden fascination for school and the French language and a sudden respect for M.Hamel. He wanted his teacher to stay and felt very guilty for having neglected his French lessons as now he was being deprived of the opportunity of learning his language.

Q12: Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it. Describe how regretful M.Hamel and the village elders are for having neglected their native language, French.
Ans: The feeling of regretfulness for having neglected their native language, French comes quite late to M. Hamel and the village elders. They realise rather late that their language is part of their culture and they should be proud of it. It is only after they have been deprived of learning their language that they understand its value. The imposition of German language made them suddenly realise the authority of their captors and they felt a loss of freedom. So on the day of the last French lesson the village elders are seated on the back desks and M. Hamel, who had been teaching French at the school for the last forty years, was wearing his formal suit as a mark of respect for the last French lesson. M. Hamel expressed how they all had a great deal to reproach themselves for as most of the people of Alsace could neither speak nor write French. Parents preferred to put their children to work on farms or mills.
M. Hamel regretfully said how he himself sometimes sent his students to water his flowers instead of learning their language lessons. While delivering the last lesson M. Hamel called upon his students and the village elders to guard the French language among themselves, declaring it to be the most beautiful language tn the world. Each one of them felt guilty for having ignored the French lessons.

Q13: Describe the atmosphere in the class on the day of the last lesson.
Ans: On the day of the last French lesson the atmosphere in the class was strange and solemn. The school was as quiet as if it was a Sunday morning. The teacher (M.FIamel) moving in the class with his ruler under his arm was wearing his special dress for the last class. The elders of the village were sitting on the backbenches of the classroom. All the students were studying with complete attention and the teacher was teaching with full dedication. All this was due to an order from Berlin that from the next day German would be taught instead of French by a new teacher. While delivering the last lesson, the teacher called upon his students and the village elders to guard the French language among themselves and never forget it, declaring French to be the most beautiful language in the world.

Q14: What did the French teacher tell his students in his last French lesson? What impact did it have on them? Why?
Ans: M. Hamel told his students that a new order from Berlin has declared that all schools of Alsace and Lorraine would teach only German so this was going to be their last French lesson. This new order aroused patriotic feelings in him and he, in turn, wanted to arouse similar patriotism in his students and the village elders. He made them conscious of the glory and value of the French language and told them to safeguard it among themselves and keep it alive at all costs as it was the key to their unity and liberation. Everyone listened to him sadly but with rapt attention and respect. Even little Franz listened to his teacher’s words with a new-found interest. He felt sorry that he had neglected learning French. Everyone from the village assembled in the class to thank Mr. Hamel for his forty years of faithful service to the community.

Q15: Everybody during the last lesson is filled with regret. Comment.
Ans: The one common feeling that fills each and every person who is present in the last French lesson is an acute sense of regret. M. Hamel reproaches himself for putting off his students’ learning till the next day and sending them to water his flowers instead of learning their lessons. He also gave his students a holiday when he wanted to go fishing. Franz felt sorry for not learning his lessons and escaping school. He wished he had attended his classes more often and even the thought of losing his teacher saddened him. The village elders occupied the back benches of the class to atone for their guilt and express their regret for not having attended school regularly. They were now showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.

Q16: Our native language is part of our culture and we are proud of it. How does the presence of village elders in the classroom and M.Hamel’s last lesson show their love for French?
Ans: Acquiring power over the French made the Prussians so dominating that they decided to impose even their language on them. So on the day of the last French lesson the village elders were seated on the back seats of the classroom. They felt sad and sorry for not having gone to school more often. Their presence was also their way of thanking their master, M.Hamel for his forty years of faithful service. M.Hamel himself had put on his fine Sunday clothes in honour of the last French lesson. Assuming the role of mentor he advised the class to safeguard and preserve their language among themselves and never forget it. He called French the most beautiful and logical language in the world. By the end of the class M.Hamel was so choked with emotion and could not speak so he took a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard “Vive la France!” (Long Live France) and then dismissed the class.